Shaun Marcum
Shaun Michael Marcum (born December 14, 1981) is a American Major League baseball pitcher who plays for the New York Mets. Career Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Marcum was raised in Excelsior Springs and attended Excelsior Springs High School. Marcum attended the University of Missouri, but transferred to Missouri State University, playing on the 2003 College World Series team. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third round, 80th overall, of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. Marcum quickly rose through the minor leagues and made his major league debut on September 6, . 2005 He was a late season call-up from the minors in September when rosters expanded. Before making his debut, Marcum was often compared to his then fellow teammate Josh Towers by Blue Jays commentators Tom Candiotti and Pat Tabler. He wasn't a hard thrower and relied on locating his pitches for success. He made his debut against the Baltimore Orioles pitching one scoreless inning, giving up a hit and one walk and one strikeout. Marcum pitched 8 innings, giving up six hits, without surrendering a run during the month of September. 2006 Marcum went 3–4 for the Blue Jays in in 21 games including 14 starts. His ERA was a bit high though (5.06). In his final 7 starts, had a winning record of 2–1 with a 3.31 ERA. 2007 Marcum had a breakthrough season in . He went 12–6 with an ERA of 4.13. Marcum developed and improved his pitching style. His fastball was clocked most times at around 89–90 mph but his changeup became his best pitch, as he struck out batters most effectively with it. He struck out a total of 122 batters over 159 innings of work. He pitched 6+ scoreless innings in seven of his starts, including two instances where he pitched 6+ no-hit innings before being relieved. One of those instances was against the Boston Red Sox. Manager John Gibbons was somewhat criticized for taking Marcum out while he still had a no-hitter going but Marcum was being held to a strict pitch count while transitioning out of the bullpen. 2008 In , Marcum got off to a good start, going 5–4 with a 2.65 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 98.2 Innings. But an injury followed by a handful of weak starts sent him to Triple-A on August 23. In September he was back in the starting rotation and he seemed to have returned to form. However on September 19, days after an abbreviated start in which he left with elbow pain, the Jays released the information that Marcum would need Tommy John surgery and would miss the rest of the 2008 season and likely all of 2009. 2009 As of May 1, 2009, Marcum had started to throw again. Marcum made two starts with A-Class Dunedin in early July, pitching successfully on his rehab assignment, he then started twice with the AA-class New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and once more with AAA Las Vegas 51s before being shut down for the season to prevent him from injury again.http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=marcum001sha 2010 On March 22 Marcum was named the opening day starter for the 2010 season, succeeding Roy Halladay for that role, who had seven consecutive opening day starts from 2003 to 2009. On May 2, Marcum got his first win against the Oakland Athletics, it was his first win since September 11 2008 before going through Tommy John surgery. Pitching Style As 2010, Marcum's fastball is not that fast, but his change-up is great. His fastball now in mid to high 80(85-89miles per hour) and sometimes it clocks 91 miles per hour. His change-up clocks between 80-83miles per hour. His curve is between 71-74miles per hour range. External links * *The Star References Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Auburn Doubledays players Category:Dunedin Blue Jays players Category:Syracuse SkyChiefs players Category:Syracuse Chiefs players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Baseball players from Missouri Category:Toronto Blue Jays players Category:People from the Kansas City metropolitan area Category:Charleston AlleyCats players Category:Las Vegas 51s players Category:New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Category:Missouri State University alumni Category:Starting Pitchers Category:Players